Christmas 2008!

Christmas was great this year! Santa ate our cookies and milk and must have liked them, because we were generously rewarded. BriAnna and Lyndsay got the Webkinz and watches they both asked for. Emily got her Princess Scooter, despite not sitting on Santa's lap. Josie didn't really ask The Big Guy for anything, but he left her a great little pair of shoes that she loves. Santa even remembered Mom and Dad with the Wii game Rock Band.

This is Snow Fun!

Despite having a very warm early December, we're finally getting our Christmas snow. It is always nice to have some white stuff on the ground to make Christmas sparkle.
BriAnna has been especially excited about the prospect of snow due to the fact that she got this lovely pink snow sled for her birthday. After she opened her presents, we had cake. She admitted that her birthday wish from blowing out her candles was for snow.
The girls all had a great time sliding down our icy driveway. Even Josie got into the action. After I came back inside, and to my chagrin, the big girls were sending the baby down on the sled by herself. They all had fun and nobody got hurt on all that slippery ice.
And of course, after tromping around in the snow and ice, there is nothing more fabulous than warming up with cup of hot chocolate and a few cookies!

Cookie Making Fun!

Because my Primary Class has been so good all year, we wanted to have a little fun. We had a pizza party and decorated sugar cookies. Sadly, not everyone was able to come, but those who came had lots of fun! Luv ya kids!

Happy Birthday Bri!

Chuck E. Cheese was where BriAnna wanted to celebrate her birthday. So we loaded up the family and five of Bri's favorite friends and headed to have fun. Happy Birthday, girlfriend!

Have You Ever? Tag

Here's how it works: Bold all the things that you have done in your life.

1. Started your own blog 2. Slept under the stars 3. Played in a band 4. Visited Hawaii 5. Watched a meteor shower 6. Given more than you can afford to charity 7. Been to Disneyland 8. Climbed a mountain 9. Held a praying mantis 10. Sang a solo 11. Bungee jumped 12. Visited Paris 13. Watched a lightning storm at sea 14. Taught yourself an art from scratch 15. Adopted a child 16. Had food poisoning 17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty 18. Grown your own vegetables 19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France 20. Slept on an overnight train 21. Had a pillow fight 22. Hitch hiked 23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill 24. Built a snow fort 25. Held a lamb 26. Gone skinny dipping 27. Run a Marathon 28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice 29. Seen a total eclipse 30. Watched a sunrise or sunset 31. Hit a home run 32. Been on a cruise 33. Seen Niagara Falls in person 34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors 35. Seen an Amish community 36. Taught yourself a new language 37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied 38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person 39. Gone rock climbing 40. Seen Michelangelo’s David 41. Sung karaoke 42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt 43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant 44. Visited Africa 45. Walked on a beach by moonlight 46. Been transported in an ambulance 47. Had your portrait painted 48. Gone deep sea fishing- 49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person 50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris 51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling 52. Kissed in the rain 53. Played in the mud 54. Gone to a drive-in theater 55. Been in a movie- 56. Visited the Great Wall of China 57. Started a business 58. Taken a martial arts class 59. Visited Russia 60. Served at a soup kitchen 61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies 62. Gone whale watching 63. Got flowers for no reason 64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma 65. Gone sky diving 66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp 67. Bounced a check 68. Flown in a helicopter 69. Saved a favorite childhood toy 70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial 71. Eaten Caviar 72. Pieced a quilt 73. Stood in Times Square 74. Toured the Everglades 75. Been fired from a job 76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London 77. Broken a bone 78. Been on a speeding motorcycle 79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person 80. Published a book 81. Visited the Vatican 82. Bought a brand new car 83. Walked in Jerusalem 84. Had your picture in the newspaper 85. Read the entire Bible 86. Visited the White House 87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating 88. Had chickenpox 89. Saved someone’s life 90. Sat on a jury 91. Met someone famous 92. Joined a book club 93. Lost a loved one 94. Had a baby 95. Seen the Alamo in person 96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake 97. Been involved in a law suit 98. Owned a cell phone 99. Been stung by a bee



You got me beat, Sharla. I only got 40.
I tag:
Becki
Honor
Julie

If you read this Jeri, I would love to see your number, since you're a world traveler.

Twilight Movie Review

Today I saw "Twilight" on the big screen. My sister-in-law and I snuck out of the house early for a matinee, while my sweet brother-in-law braved watching all six of our kids. Thanks, Justin! We had heard that the movie was overrated and just a bunch of hype. So we had talked ourselves up to the possibility of being disappointed. But we liked it!

Of course, it didn't follow the book exactly, it would be too long. But a lot of the dialogue I recognized as coming directly from the book. I loved the setting in the northwest...the tall trees and moss covering everything! I thought that was ideal to the book.

As for casting, Bella was a perfect fit in my opinion (unless you saw any clips of her on the red carpet before the premiere, in that case she looked like a drunk hooker.) Edward had good chemistry with Bella, but he wasn't quite beautiful enough for my dreams of Edward. The casted Carlisle would have made a beautiful Edward, but perhaps he wasn't young enough or maybe the chemistry was bad. The other actors seemed to be casted very well with the exception of Jasper, he seemed a little too "Edward Scissorhands" for me.

Overall, I liked the movie. I thought most of the characters were all developed enough that they were pretty true to the book. Although you can never get an exact match, I was pleased that the movie mostly followed the book. Agree or Disagree?

My Twilight Addiction!

I am a book addict. When I pick up a book, I practically can not put it down until I have completely devoured it. Such was the case with my most recent novels.

I held off reading the Twilight Series because I knew that I wouldn't have time to read it. So when my Florida vacation came

I knew that I would have two nice long cross country plane rides to completely lose myself in a
good book or four. I'm cheap so I checked out

from the library and borrowed all four in the series and packed them in my carry on luggage. You can never pack too many books! Needless to say, I read all 2,000+ pages in less than two weeks. Naturally the next thing on my agenda was to hunt down the pirated Midnight Sun transcript at http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/midnightsun.html and devour that too. Crazy addictions, at least its books and not harmful substances! My poor husband and kids, they didn't really get me back from my vacation until I had finished the books. They love me so they put up with me!

Back to Life as Mom

Back to my Primary class (CTR 6) on Sunday, Activity Days on Monday, preschool on Tuesday and Thursday. It's good to be back, vacations are great, but being loved and needed is better! I love being a Mom! It's what I do. Here is a picture of the preschool girls at our house. The girls are displaying their jellyfish (brought to you by the letter J). Em is in the middle.

Airboat Ride!

We had an excellent two-hour airboat ride. Flying across the cola-colored waters brought back many Florida camping memories. (BTY, water is clear in Utah;) I loved the mossy cypress grove.
We all enjoyed a taste of gator jerky!

We saw several big alligators and even one hanging out with a herd of cattle. I thought my ranching father-in-law would get a kick out of that scene.

Florida Vacation

My sister Jennett had the fabulous idea of getting all of us sisters together in Florida (where we grew up) for a little vacation, husbands and kids not invited! Since some of us keep having babies (Jenny and I) the timing was a little tricky. But the stars aligned and it was finally possible to have our "Silly Sister Vacation." We stayed at a timeshare in Cocoa Beach that is jointly owned by some of the sisters. Here is the view from our balcony window. We all revelled in the sound of the ocean and crashing of the waves. We lounged on the beach, at the pool and in the hot tub. It was wonderful :)

My Sisters (the self portraits)

Jennett: our hostesss, resident beach bum and lovely chauffeur.


Judy: always packs enough jewelry, chocolate and Diet Coke to share.




Jean: turn the music up, look its a pic of my cute puppy from my boyfriend.

Jeri: I have to get up early tomorrow because my flight is at 11am, Settlers of Catan Pro.

Myself: the bookworm, I'm on vacation!

Jenny: I need to eat something, salsa making extraordinaire.

Julie: I'll cook the best meal and make jalapeno poppers from scratch and sleep on the couch because I'll be up all night texting.

Halloween

Halloween is one of our favorite holidays. And this year it was so warm. That got mom really excited about going to Florida.

Here's BriAnna, we put curlers in her hair the night before so she would be a cute little devil!
Lyndsay was a little bunny, complete with a cotton tail!

Josie thought her bee costume rocked. She justed laughed and laughed wearing it!

Emily the Elephant thought her costume's padding was silly!

Here's the crowd ready to go trick-or-treating. Cousin Ashley is a little too goulish for Josie's comfort and a better pic of all of them was impossible.

Overall, Halloween was a smashing success. A great excuse to make your neighbors hand over their chocolate!

Pumpkin Carving!

We grew these lovely pumpkins in our own backyard. Though one was still slightly green, the carving commenced.

A couple of cheery faces. Emily, she's only three, doesn't like being scared.

Mom, Dad and the big girls got right to work...

...while Josie busied herself unloading the diaper bag, including all the wipes!


Of course, Jo couldn't miss out on all the fun. People are getting there hands dirty here, so she wasn't afraid to plunge her little hands right in at the first opportunity. You know she's excited about that ;)

Primary Program 2008

Today was the Primary Program. Everyone did really well. Lyndsay spoke on how her family helps her learn to live the gospel. BriAnna spoke on preparing now to go to the temple. The theme this year has been "I am a Child of God." All of the children received a little picture of themselves and a clip for a stand. Here are the girls pictures.

Both of the girls put on their shy smiles for the camera.

This Year's Canning Season

Look at these beautiful pears. I almost didn't want to hide them away with the food. But at some point, I needed to reclaim the counter space. I also bottled peaches, apple pie filling, applesauce, jams, chili, tomato sauce and chicken chunks.

Josie is always so helpful in rotating the food. It doesn't sit too long in any one place.

Preschool Partying

Emily is in at-home preschool with four other little girls (sorry boys get your own). Mom only has to host every five weeks. Yay! Look at these beauties. What a handful! Emily is the one in the center. (This episode was brought to you by the letter "E.")

Soccer Finale!

Soccer Season is over. Both of the girls teams played very well. Lyndsay's team, The Raptors, finished undefeated for the 2nd grade league. BriAnna's team, the Stingers, only lost 3 of 10 games in the 3rd/4th grade league. They both learned a lot and had fun. Way to go, ladies!

BriAnna is the little one by the ball.

Lyndsay is the little one by the referee.